President
Bush's recent vows to pursue a "forward strategy of freedom"
in the Islamic world are in the spotlight as a close ally, Uzbekistan
President Islam Karimov, comes under attack by human rights groups.

Despite
Western pressure, Karimov has outlawed opposition parties, harassed
and imprisoned dissidents, and, despite his own promises, failed to
take meaningful steps to stop the routine use of torture against perceived
opponents. Scores of dissidents have been executed after sham trials.

Karimov's
most recent display of resistance to opening meaningful political space
for the opposition  or even for civil-society groups  came
late last week when his government blocked the holding of a conference
on the death penalty in Tashkent.

The
conference, planned for Dec. 5 by a group called "Mothers Against
the Death Penalty and Torture," could not be held, authorities
told participants the day before, because the sponsoring organization
had not been properly registered with the government. Cosponsors included
New York-based Freedom House,
which is close to the Bush administration.

In
fact, the group had submitted a registration application to the government
last January, but had not received any reply  despite a law that
requires a decision within two months.

Cancellation
of the event drew strong statements from both HRW and Amnesty International.

"This
step shows yet again how freedom of expression is curtailed in Uzbekistan,"
Amnesty
said in a statement Friday. "It also highlights the authorities'
policy to prevent any public discussion of the death penalty in the
country."

HRW
noted that the government has a long history of refusing to register
independent human rights or other issue-oriented groups, often treating
their activities as illegal.

Karimov's
intransigence is embarrassing not only to the Bush administration, which
continues to embraces Karimov as a "strategic ally" in Washington's
anti-terrorism campaign, but to Western Europe as well.

The
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which held
its annual meeting in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent last May, has warned
that it would cut its funding to the former Soviet republic unless Karimov
met certain "benchmarks" toward human-rights and political
reform, including taking concrete steps to end rampant torture of prisoners;
registering civil-society groups; and ensuring greater freedom for the
media and opposition parties.

But
seven months later, human rights groups say the EBRD has nothing to
show for its coaxing of Tashkent. If anything, the situation has deteriorated.

One
of the benchmarks set by the EBRD for continued lending to Uzbekistan
was that the government permit independent civil society groups to register
and function freely. The Bank said it would have one year to comply
before sanctions were taken. "Unfortunately, this is just another
example in a long list of setbacks for fulfilling the human rights benchmarks
set by the EBRD earlier this year," said Denber. "The international
community must firmly and publicly condemn this appalling move and make
clear that this type of behavior will seriously affect their relations
with Uzbekistan."

While
both the U.S. and the European Union (EU) had courted Uzbekistan, the
most populous of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, during
the 1990s, its strategic importance emerged more forcefully after the
September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

US
intelligence and military forces used former Soviet military bases in
Uzbekistan to mount their campaign to oust the Taliban government in
neighboring Afghanistan, and have maintained a presence in the predominantly
Muslim country.

In
recognition of Uzbekistan's importance, Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld
was scheduled to visit Karimov in Tashkent to address growing concern
over the recent deployment of Russian fighter-bombers at a base in neighboring
Kyrgyzstan last week when he traveled to Georgia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan,
and Iraq.

The
visit, canceled at the last moment due to bad weather over Tashkent,
highlighted both continuing US interest in Uzbekistan and the growing
rivalry in the region between Russia and the US. Both powers now have
bases in Kyrgyzstan, and the recent ouster of Georgian President Eduard
Shevardnadze in favor of a more pro-Washington leadership appears to
have prompted growing concern in the Kremlin about US objectives in
the region.

Karimov
also hosted Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman just last month. Veneman
praised the country's leadership, describing Uzbekistan as a "strategic
ally of the United States" and offering both food aid and assistance
in developing Uzbekistan's agricultural sector. She did not speak publicly
about the human rights situation in the country.

Karimov,
one of a number of former Soviet leaders in the Caucasus and Central
Asia who have maintained their hold on the country more than a decade
after the Soviet collapse, is also considered one of those who are most
opposed to political and democratic reform.

Despite
Western pressure, he has outlawed opposition parties, harassed and imprisoned
dissidents, and, despite his own promises, has failed to take meaningful
steps to stop torture that is routinely used against perceived opponents,
particularly Muslims who practice their religion outside of state-sponsored
mosques. Scores of dissidents have been executed after sham trials.

Yet
in a recent speech before the National Endowment of Democracy (NED),
in which he criticized what he said were decades of Western tolerance
for repression practiced by western-allied Muslim governments, President
Bush omitted any reference to Uzbekistan, an omission that was quickly
seized on by critics both in the US and in the Islamic world as evidence
that Bush's rhetoric was hollow.

Human
rights groups and regional experts have long argued that Karimov's repressive
measures continue to radicalize many Uzbeki Muslims, some of whom have
been associated with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which
Bush himself linked to al Qaeda before the Afghan campaign, and other
armed groups.

Rights
groups have also expressed deep concern about the fate of a prominent
human rights activist and journalist, Ruslan Sharipov, who was sentenced
to four years in prison in September on what critics say were trumped-up
charges of homosexuality. Sharipov is believed to have been beaten and
tortured while in custody. His public defender was abducted and severely
beaten by men dressed in camouflage uniforms in late August.

In
late September, the government also blocked a congress of the opposition
Erk Democratic Party, whose activists around the country had reported
an increase in harassment.

Jim
Lobe, works as Inter Press Service's
correspondent in the Washington, D.C., bureau. He has followed the ups
and downs of neo-conservatives since well before their rise in the aftermath
of the September 11, 2001 attacks.